Lone thunder
by mermaideia
Summary: Winter is hard for Tide clan. Greencough, hunger, cold, etc. kills of all its members but one. Icekit is adopted by a neighboring clan, and when she is old enough, must rebuild her clan so four clans may continue to rule the forest!
1. Begining to echo

Silently the brown and white tabby she-cat crept forward through the snow towards the tiny, brown mouse. Just as she came within jumping distance, something startled the mouse and it lifted it's head and ran off towards it's burrow. The tabby jumped up and raced to catch up with the mouse. Just as the mouse reached the entrance to it's hole, she slammed her paw down on it's tail. Quickly she nipped the back of it's neck and it fell limp in her jaws. Proudly she picked it up and looked around. A grey tom stepped out of the bushes and flicked her with his tail. "Nice catch Mintpaw." he complemented her. "Next time, you should try to walk _on_ the snow. Not through it." Mintpaw purred and nodded. "Yes, Skyhawk." she promised. Skyhawk smiled. "Let's head back to camp." he said. "We can pick up your squirrel on the way." Mintpaw gripped her mouse tighter and bounded forward. "Come _on_!" squeaked. Skyhawk picked up his pace so he could keep up with his energetic apprentice. Mintpaw bounced over to where she buried her squirrel, and began digging ferociously. As soon as the squirrel emerged, she snatched it up with her claws and tossed it over to Skyhawk. "Can you carry that?" she asked him, already knowing he would. Once he picked up her squirrel, Mintpaw turned in a circle and raced to camp.

As soon as Mintpaw exploded into the clearing, she knew something was wrong. Cats were running everywhere and Rainstorm, Tide clan's medicine cat, was crouched beside several bundles of fur just outside of the nursery. Skyhawk trotted into the clearing behind her and looked around in bewilderment. Noticing the mentor and his apprentice for the first time, Rainstorm stood up and slowly padded up to Skyhawk. "Skyhawk," The black and brown medicine cat whispered sadly, "While you were gone, Robinshadow kitted. She had some difficulties. I'm so sorry, She's gone...and... I was only able to save one of your kits." Skyhawk dropped Mintpaw's squirrel and raced over to the bundles of fur. He pushed nose into each one and let out a mournful cry each time. With fat tears dripping down his face, he tuned to Rainstorm and whispered, "I want to see my kit."


	2. Jaypath

"Ooof!" Icekit grunted when her den mate, Crabkit landed on her. Icekit squirmed out from under him, and pounced on his hind quarters. Crabkit jumped forward and batted at her with his paw. Icekit recoiled, then lunged and shoved him into the wall of the nursery. "Icekit, Crabkit, stop that now!" Dapplefur scolded, "Don't you know the clan is trying to sleep? Get back in your nest!" Icekit swatted at Crabkit one last time, then crawled into Sagepelt's nest. The queen shifted so Icekit and Crabkit could squeeze in among the other kits. "Goodnight mommy." Crabkit murmured as he settled down. Sagepelt smiled and nuzzled his head. "Goodnight little-one." She whispered. Icekit sighed sadly. The other queens lifted their heads to glare at Sagepelt. Sagepelt looked up. "Goodnight Icekit." she whispered quickly. The queens set their heads back down, but continued to glare at Sagepelt. Icekit shut her eyes tightly. All the queens knew they would never replace her real mom, but they tried hard. Sometimes, Icekit felt like they tried too hard.

When Icekit opened her eyes, she was in a grassy clearing she had never seen before. The clearing was encircled by trees, and had a rock right in its center. On the rock sat a starry, black tom. The tom had very sleek fur with hard muscles underneath. When he noticed Icekit, he raised his tail slightly and beckoned to her. Uncertainly, Icekit padded over to him. When she neared the base of the rock, Icekit called out, "Who are you?" The tom smiled and answered in a warm tone, "I'm Jaypath. You don't need to be afraid of me. I'm here to give you some advice." Curious, Icekit scrambled up the rock and sat down next to him. "What kind of advice?" she huffed. Jaypath's smile faded. "Your clan is about to go through hard times." He mewed. "Many cats will die. My advice is, don't lose hope and be strong. Protect yourself and protect your clan." Icekit's eyes widened. "B-b-but I'm just a kit!" she squeaked. " You should be telling this to Burntstar... or Rainstorm!" Jaypath smiled again. "Ahh, but you're a special kit. With a special destiny. Soon, you'll be a special _apprentice_ with a special destiny." he promised. Icekit looked down at the rock. It was fading! Her head whipped around in a panic. "Don't worry. This is just a dream, and you're about to wake up." Jaypath soothed. "Be strong. Don't lose hope. Protect yourself and your clan." he paused. "Work hard towards apprenticeship." he winked. Then her dream faded and Icekit woke up.

**Sorry. Bad chapter. Oh well... I needed this to happen. Anyway, Please review! Bye!**


	3. Greencough

Icekit stared off into the blackness of the nursery. Should she believe what Jaypath told her? Did she really have a special destiny? Icekit closed her eyes. Maybe if she went back to sleep, she could see Jaypath again. After all, she had so many more questions to ask! She rested her head on her paws and curled into a tight, fluffy ball. Unfortunately, no matter how hard she tried, sleep refused to come. Icekit stood up and shook the loose moss from her pelt. Then she padded silently out into the clearing. Icekit swung her head from side to side as she searched the camp for a good sleeping place. She could sleep by the hollow tree-trunk with the elders, but their snoring would probably keep her awake. She could try the apprentice's den, but she might get in trouble. Frustrated, Icekit swiped the air with tiny, unsheathed claws. If only it weren't so dark! Then she would settle for a nice patch of moonlight. Icekit scowled and stomped over to a small tree on the edge of the camp. She dropped into a sloppy hunter's crouch, and "stalked" it. Then she reared up and sunk her claws into its soft bark. Proud of herself, Icekit flicked her tail and began to climb. Halfway up the tree, two branches met in a fork, and their was an old abandoned seagull nest that looked like a great place to sleep. Icekit placed one paw in front of the other and started to haul herself up to it. Out of breath, she finally reached the edge of the nest and spilled into it. The seagulls had really done a good job. Even though the nest was old, the sticks were strong and tightly woven. There was even a thin layer of feathers to complete it. Icekit settled down into the feathers and took some deep breaths. It was so peaceful. She rested her head on some seagull fluff. The stars were out, the nest was soft, the clan was sleeping, and some snow crabs were scuttling along the shore. Icekit began to drift off. It was starting to snow, but the feathers preserved body heat well. It wasn't long before she slipped into unconsciousness.

Icekit jumped awake. Someone was calling her name! For a moment she forgot where she was, but then all the events of the previous night came flooding back to her. Unfortunately, she didn't get to talk to Jaypath again.

"Icekit, can you hear me?" Skyhawk called. He sounded worried.

"I can hear you." Icekit called back as she hopped out of the nest and began to climb down the tree.

"Thank Starclan!" Skyhawk exclaimed when she reached the ground. "I thought you had run away!"

Icekit ran over to him. "I wouldn't run away!" she exclaimed indignantly. "I just decided to sleep in that tree."

Skyhawk nodded. "Okay, but next time you need to let someone know were you are."

"I will." Icekit promised.

"Hey Skyhawk, are you coming or what?" Mintpaw called impatiently from the camp's entrance. Skyhawk dipped his head to his daughter and padded out the entrance with Mintpaw. Just as they left, Rainstorm rushed past Icekit with a bundle of herbs in his jaws. He hurried to the elders den and disappeared inside. After a little while he popped back out and ran into his den. Then he reappeared with more herbs and hurried into the warriors den. Icekit sat down to watch as he repeated this process with all the other dens. When he finished, he padded up to Icekit and pressed his ear against her chest. Icekit gave him a weird look. "Uh... what are you doing?" She asked him. Rainstorm didn't move. "I'm listening to your breathing."

"Why?" Icekit asked suspiciously. Rainstorm straightened up. "Just a precaution." He said as he gave her some of the herbs he was carrying. "Chew and swallow. I don't think you need them, but it's better to be safe than sorry."

Icekit sniffed the herbs before she licked them up. "What are the herbs supposed to do?" She asked after swallowing. Rainstorm looked down at her. "Greencough has broken out in the camp. Those herbs will help protect you from it." He told her. Then he stood up and dipped his head. "Now if you'll excuse me; I have work to do." He said as he padded towards his den. Icekit jumped up, "Wait!" she called. "Who has Greencough?"

Rainstorm didn't answer.

**Sorry. This is a****_ really_**** bad chapter. I tried to make it longer, but it didn't turn out so well... Do you guys think it's a good enough length? As usual, please review and tell me what you think! **

**P.S. You really need to read "Dark tides". Animaneya is an awesome writer!**


	4. Rainstorm

Icekit scowled and picked up her pace. " Rainstorm!" she called as she hurried after him, licking the remains of the herbs off her jaws. "Rainstorm!" Rainstorm stopped and sighed.

"Yes, Icekit?"

Icekit bounced to his flank. " Who's got greencough?" She repeated.

Rainstorm sighed again. " Why don't you follow me, Icekit." He said heading into his den. Icekit cocked her head. She had never been in the medicine cat's den before. Eagerly, she raced inside.

Icekit stared around in amazement. The cave was huge! Multiple nests lined one wall, stacks of moss were shoved in the back, and herbs stuck out of every single crack and cleft. A small waterfall trickled down beside the stacks of moss and ended in a pool with three bundles of herbs soaking in it. " There are so many plants!" Icekit exclaimed. Rainstorm smiled.

" Yes, well, I made sure to stock especially well this winter. It's a medicine cat's duty to look after the clan."

" I thought that was a warrior's duty."

Rainstorm nodded. " Warriors fight. But, no matter how well a clan's warriors fight, accidents always happen."

" There's more to being a warrior then fighting." Icekit said, remembering what her father had told her.

Rainstorm nodded. " There's more to being a medicine cat too. We interpret signs from Starclan."

Icekit gawked. "You do? Do you get to _talk _to Starclan?"

Rainstorm let out a _mrrow _of laughter. " Sometimes."

Icekit gave a little bounce. " Awesome! Did Starclan tell you why cats have greencough?"

A look of terror flashed across Rainstorm's face, but he quickly recovered himself.

" Starclan tells me that young kits shouldn't learn how to gossip like elders. Just be careful. That's all you need to know. Now get out of here!" Rainstorm lunged playfully at Icekit. She squealed excitedly and darted out of the den and onto the beach.

The clan was settling down and sharing tongues while they ate their fresh-kill. Icekit glanced behind her. Disappointedly, she noticed that Rainstorm hadn't followed her. _Oh well. _she thought to herself _He can go sort his herbs. I'll go eat. _She glanced hungrily at the fresh-kill pile. Dorseltail had just returned from fishing and was selecting a plump fish off the top of the freshly stocked fresh-kill pile. Icekit bounded up behind him to wait for her turn. As soon as Dorseltail had stepped away, Icekit dove into the pile and dragged out a huge fish as big as she was.

" Oh no you don't!" Sagepelt jumped up from her mate Streamrock's side and snatched the fish away from Icekit. " Leave that for the elders. You take this." Sagepelt snagged a much smaller fish with her claw and tossed it to Icekit. Then she stuffed the bigger fish back into the pile. Icekit stuck out her tongue at Sagepelt and bit into the skimpy fish. It was actually quite tasty. Before she knew it, the fish had vanished and been replaced with a small pile of bones and a very full feeling in Icekit's stomach. She would never say so, but she was glad Sagepelt had interrupted. The fish she ate filled her up nicely.

Just then, the two elders, Foamwhisker and Flounderfoot burst out of their den. Foamwhisker was leaning heavily on Flounderfoot, horrible coughs racking her body. Icekit ran towards them.

" Stay back!" Flounderfoot snapped. Icekit skidded to a halt, spraying sand everywhere.

Rainstorm rushed out of his den and over to the elders. Icekit watched, worried for the old cats, as they disappeared with Rainstorm into the medicine cats den.

**Hey! Sorry it's been so long since I last updated... So, what do you think? You got to meet a lot of new cats in this one. R&R plz. I want to know what I did well, and what I need to work on. thx, bye!**


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